


Take a break

by DifferentChild



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Gen, Sick Pidge | Katie Holt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23010868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DifferentChild/pseuds/DifferentChild
Summary: As usual Pidge is overworking herself. It is up to keep convince her to rest. He convinced everybody else so it can't be that hard...right?
Relationships: Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 2
Kudos: 54





	Take a break

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Could I request Keith convincing Pidge to stop overworking and rest when she has a bad fever? I wouldn't mind if it's shippy :3
> 
> You got it nonnie!

Everyone knew Pidge worked odd hours. The girl was practically a workaholic and that wasn’t even taking into account searching for her father or brother

Unfortunately, it was damn near impossible to stop her. Hunk and Lance were already in bed thankfully. Shiro was...hopefully sleeping? He’d tried to get his brother to rest, not that that was easy.

Allura had gone off to bed at Coran’s ushering. They’d all had long days.

He had looked at Coran who smiled and assured him once the others were resting he’d take his leave. Which meant Pidge was not there. Which meant working. Of course she was.

Keith sighed and headed towards the lab area. It was there or the lions. Silently he reached out to Black, wondering if his...their...Pidge was there. They were still bonding so it wasn’t an easy thing but no response to him said probably lab? Pidge was bonded to Green but she certainly took care of the others with upgrades.

The lab was warm, probably much more so than the rest of the castle. Leave it to her to mess with the controls. She probably didn’t even know how to fix it. It was probably supposed to balance out the normally frigid temperatures. Or she had something hot going - like a flame. Because that was hot…fire…

Shaking his head, he walked over towards the girl who seemed...off. He couldn’t put his finger on it. She smelled different? Gave off a different vibe? His Galra senses had started kicking in more. Looking at her more, it was also her posture. It wasn’t unusual to find her hunched over given the nature of the work and how into it she got. But this seemed...not like a choice? His brain was not working right. He was tired too.

She didn’t feel right just from standing in her general vicinity. Concerned, he walked forward and tried to figure out the best way to approach this. If she was deep into it he could startle her and get flipped...again...Keith had no desire for that. Apparently her MOM taught her that one before she’d ever become a paladin. How to flip someone by using their body weight. It worked. Too well.

Standing there was an option. Usually she’d address him if he stood in silence too long. Snarky comment here, request for item there. Yet this time he’d been standing there several minutes and he could hear a whistling sound...damnit.

“Pidge?” This time he knelt, so she was less likely to try and flip him, by her side. Due to his Galra genes, and overall training, his reflexes were faster than hers when he was trying.

Heat.

“Pidge you’re burning up.” He looked around for any sort of thermometer. Unfortunately, probably intentionally, she didn’t seem to have one anywhere obvious.

“M’fine.” Finally she spoke. Though her voice sounded strained and rough, like she’d been coughing for a bit.

Her fever wasn’t measurable without a thermometer but he felt it radiating off her. Honestly it felt like she was warmer than him and that was something. Shiro always joked and said he was a walking heater!

“That’s not fine. You’re hotter than I am! Come on. Let’s get you to bed.” His attempt to pick her up had him falling instead. She leaned last minute and he hadn’t balanced for it and he fell...next to her laptop.

Laughing turning into coughing, he received a rather...strange? response. “I know I am but what are you?”

“Really Pidge?” Was she delusional from it? That sounded like Lance...and elementary school. And neither was right. “Come on. Stop playing games. You’re sick and everyone else is already in bed anyway.” Of course she was the one refusing. Of course. 

Continued typing was all he got. Even though he heard the whistling still and she was shivering despite the heat. 

“At least stop long enough to use your inhaler damnit.” Where was the thing? It wasn’t anywhere in sight. She had stopped hiding it when it was just the paladins. Though he thought they’d gotten better with  _ all of them  _ about honesty when they weren’t their best. Whether it be physical - illness, injury, or mental/emotional - specifics might be left out but still. 

Initially nothing but then a nod. It was a brief pause as she pulled it out from underneath her leg - what a storage place? And shook it up before pressing down. Keith took his chance. While he felt dirty doing it because of that, when she was focused on breathing, it was still an opportunity that he had to take.

Carefully, he picked up her laptop and moved it somewhere nearby...somewhere taller. He wasn’t  _ tall _ , but he was taller than her. And if it was at the edge of his reach? Then maybe it would be out of hers.

After he heard the coughing he heard a strong, but hoarse “hey!” of protest from the smallest member of their team.

She stood rather quickly, moving his way. This was a mistake, as she realized shortly after when she nearly fell over from the effort. 

Laptop secure, Keith closed the distance and steadied her, making sure to let her lean into him to right herself.

“M’fine.” Came the protest again, weaker but still there.

It didn’t matter that she had nearly fallen over. It didn’t matter that she was probably boiling but felt freezing as her arms went around herself in an attempt to keep warm. Pidge wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t just give up working because of a ‘little cold.’ or whatever she called it this time. 

“Sure. You’re fine and I’m the Queen of England.” 

That elicited a snort from the girl, looking at him with eyes glazed over from the fever. “You made a joke.”

“Yea. Yea I did.” And her smile made it all worth it. The look in her eyes, despite the fever, was one of amusement. If he could make this girl, the resident genius, youngest member of their team, shortest member of their team, so strong but struggling hard with all the things she’d lost...if he could bring joy to her? It was easy to crack a joke. Or two. Or three or twenty. However many it took.

“Give it.” He was now commanded, Pidge jumped, making grabby hands at the laptop before she doubled over in a coughing fit.

Keith’s expression remained soft, changing though as his concern grew and so did her stubbornness. Knowing he had to take measures into his own hands to get her to stop, even though ALL of the others were in bed or getting there, Taking action, as he had to resist the urge to do in the beginning, he picked her up and started talking.

“Put...me...down..”She huffed, still protesting despite the fever, the chills, and general awful feeling. Pidge was miserable but she had work to do and this was WAR! They didn’t get to take breaks because of a stupid cold, even if it was an alien one.

“Pidge. You’re sick. You’ve got a fever.” And he WOULD find out how high after he got her back to her room. “You need to stop overworking yourself. That could’ve caused this you know.”

If she was feeling better she’d lecture him. Honestly it was still tempting but the movement was making her dizzy, jumbling her thoughts. And freezing. Even nuzzled up against Keith’s chest she was cold. Though that was warm. And warm was nice. What was going on? O. Cold. But Keith was warm...damnit this was making her sleepy. Pidge blinked hard, biting the inside of her cheek in an attempt to do something to keep herself coherent.

“Stop it.” The resistance was ridiculous! How could she keep fighting with such a high fever? WHY would she keep fighting with such a high fever? Pidge was stubborn but not stupid...Hell that was one of her favorite things to say. 

“Why are you fighting me so much? I’m not going to hurt you. I’m trying to  _ help _ you. And your work isn’t going anywhere. It’ll be waiting for you when you’re better. Damnit Pidge, even Allura went to bed. And Shiro. SHIRO! The one who’s usually up with you. You can take a break.  _ Especially _ when you’re sick.”

It was tempting. And Pidge normally would but she found herself SO CLOSE to finding her family. And there were lion upgrades she’d had in the works for a while but were becoming more plausible now. Add ons to her Galra finding scanners. 

Proof that she wasn’t at full capacity, Keith had already arrived at her room and blushed as he realized he couldn’t get in. “Uh, I, um, I don’t have your code.” 

Everyone’s room was protected by a code. Not everyone kept it locked all the time. Pidge usually did. This time was no exception. He could try her birthday or something like that. But it would never be that obvious. Too easily hackable by the others.

Ah. “Put me down and I’ll enter it.” Not that standing upright sounded appealing. When she was placed on her own two feet the room began to spin again and Keith had to hold her steady as she sloppily punched in the code.

The code? “Matt’s birthday.” This was Katie talking. Not Pidge whoever she was pretending to be at the Garrison. This was little Katie Holt who lost her dad and her brother on the mission. The girl he’d seen come to the memorial when he was there with Adam. She’d looked so small. Well, she still was but now she looked much taller, bigger. He KNEW what she was capable of (or some of it because she was constantly surprising him). 

The red on her cheeks could’ve been a blush but he would openly blame it on the fever to save her from that. “Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 1. I hope to have part 2 tomorrow.


End file.
